📍 I just got back from the 2026 National Pest Management Association’s (NPMA) Eastern Conference in Atlantic City. A good chance to go back to basics on tactics and learn new things
At Bell Environmental, we invest in real education that matters: keeping skills sharp, maintaining recertification credits, and staying ahead of what impacts our clients and their properties. The opening keynote said it best: this industry is about protecting people and buildings, and that responsibility keeps evolving.
Over two packed days, the conference dove into pest biology, integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, safety and workforce health, regulatory updates, and smarter ways to build sustainable service programs. From urban rodent pressure to addressing invasive ant species moving into NY and NJ, the insights were practical, usable, and immediately relevant.
One reminder stood out: even in an established science, there’s always something new to learn. Human knowledge keeps growing, and so does this industry. If humanity is developing autonomous robots the size of rice, pest control certainly isn’t standing still.
Some things, though, haven’t changed, and that’s a critical to remember as the world discusses the changes being brought by technology.
Blocking and tackling still wins.
Exclusion, sanitation, monitoring, and using pest biology against the pest remain the foundation of effective control.
What has changed is how we support those fundamentals.
What’s new (and worth paying attention to):
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Proven strategies for solving one of the toughest challenges in pest control: established mouse colonies in residential and commercial buildings
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Just how strategic and adaptive mice really are
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The spread of invasive Asian Needle Ants along the East Coast
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Why cockroaches are active reservoirs of Salmonella and other pathogens
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The growing role of technology — including cameras and digital monitoring — to identify problems earlier and solve them smarter
Along with important reminders about training employees well, reinforcing responsible driving habits, and maintaining safe worksites, because better-trained teams mean safer properties.
Some of the best takeaways came between sessions: the conversations with vendors, the NPMA team, university professors, and peers who all bring different perspectives to the same goal: doing this work better.
And then it was time to leave Atlantic City.
When I got on the Garden State Parkway headed north, there was a roadsign that sparked a famous quote and memory from a favorite movie, “The Bluse Brothers.”
While it wasn’t 106 miles to Chicago, and I thankfully didn’t have dozens of police chasing me, I felt like it was the end of an adventure. I mouthed: 105 miles from Newark, three-quarters of a sandwich, two nights behind me, it’s sunny… and I’m wearing sunglasses. Hit it.
💡 The takeaway:
Strong fundamentals, smarter tools, continuous learning, that’s how we protect people and properties today and into the future.
Expect more in this space about Integrated Pest Management and related topics that affect our clients.
#ContinuingEducation #PestManagement #PropertyManagement #IPM #ClientCare #ProfessionalDevelopment #NPMA
